Security News > 2022 > August > Nancy Pelosi ties Chinese cyber-attacks to need for Taiwan visit

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has tied her controversial visit to Taiwan to an alleged barrage of China-directed cyber-attacks against the territory.

The column details many Chinese acts that Pelosi alleges Taiwan has had to defend - including some in cyberspace, where she accused China of "Launching scores of attacks on Taiwan government agencies each day."

In a government statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described Pelosi's visit as "a serious violation of the One China principle", stated it "Seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and "Gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

The One China principle has its roots in China's 1946-1950 civil war, during which the government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan and maintained it was the legitimate government of all China, despite the establishment of the People's Republic of China on the mainland.

As Taiwan thrived and the nations of the world engaged for diplomacy and trade, the One China principle was developed as a workaround that sees governments acknowledge that there is only one China and that it includes Taiwan, but at the same time maintain a relationship with Taiwan on a footing that stops just short of giving it the status of a sovereign nation.

China has responded to Pelosi's visit with a ban on Taiwanese food imports, and live fire exercises in waters around Taiwan.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/08/03/pelosi_taiwan_visit_cyberattacks/